BJP demands action against those who 'pressurised' Malegaon blast witness

Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson Nalin Kohli has called for strict action against those who put pressure on a witness in the 2008 Malegaon blast and said that the statement by the witness cannot be ignored.

A witness in the 2008 Malegoan blast case on Tuesday had claimed before a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), the then investigating agency of the case, had tortured and threatened him to take the names of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and five RSS leaders.

The witness told the court that he was kept in the office of the ATS office for seven days after the blast and after that, the agency threatened to torture and frame his family members.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon on September 29 in 2008. (ANI)

The 2008 Malegaon Blast case is currently being investigated by NIA.

Earlier on November 24, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Sadhvi Pragya Thakur made an appearance in Mumbai's Special National Investigation Agency (NIA) trial court in connection with the 2008 Malegaon blast case.

Apart from Thakur, LT Col Purohit, Chaturvedi, and Kulkarni, Ajay Rahirkar, retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and Sudhakar Dwivedi are also accused in the case. They have been charged under various sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Explosive Substances Act, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The charges include Sections 16 (committing the terrorist act) and 18 (conspiring to commit terrorist act) of the UAPA and Sections 120(b) (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 153(a) (promoting enmity between two religious groups) of the IPC.

Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped to a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town in north Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.